Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Small moment worth all the tea in China

YuYu's foster mom brought us three bags of local fruit after we got back from lunch on Saturday afternoon. After our translator left us between meals, it was so frustrating not to be able to talk to her, but sharing food is something for which we didn't need a shared language.

The smaller softer balls are huangpi (yellow shell), not much flesh, mostly little pits, but so delicious. The white fruit comes out of a hard, dark purple (almost black) shell that bleeds violent purple on your hands (that stains brown), but I didn't catch the name of the fruit. The flesh comes in 5-6 sections, one plum size pit, indescribly delicious, at least with my limited skills, flavor.

The bigger, harder balls are called dragon eyes, or longyan and I have pictures of YuYu from before her adoption, squatting in the foster family's apartment with her older cousin, eating out of the same red plastic bags full of longyan. Watching her do this again with her foster mother and her sisters, this homely little scene, made me a little misty (really, what doesn't) and all I need to do to remind myself that every penny paid for this trip was very well spent, is to look at these photos. This moment with Xiao Zhen and YuYu was worth all the tea in China to me.

About Me

A recent comment brought my attention to an issue I was not aware may cause concern to some readers: I curse. The person who made the comment and I have patched it all up, and I understand she didn't mean to be critical, but based on that comment, I thought it only kind to offer these words of warning: I curse. I curse when I write, and, except in front of young ears or where it would make me seem cavemanish, I curse in conversation. Not like a long-shoreman or anything, but I do pepper it up a little bit. Since I write like I talk, the curse words will find their way into the blog entries. I try to keep the blog focused on adoption and/or child rearing themes, but I do swear. Not too much, but there it is. I am also often irreverent. And I'd like to be more irreverent than I let myself be on the blog, but again, the fear of offending, but maybe, after time, that filter will wear off and you'll get the full force of my blasphemous nature. But for now, I'm mostly playing nice. So, you've been warned. If my cursing bothers you, please move along to another blog.